Archive for September, 2006
To clean a Platypus
This from a concerned traveller:
The water bottle has almost had its day; a bag of water concealed in a rucksac with an easily accessible sucking tube is far more convenient for the active adventurer. Brands such as Platypus or Camelbak provide almost perfect hydration solutions (hydration fluid not included), however, the inside of the one-metre length of tube quickly goes mouldy. What can I do to alleviate this problem?
3 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “To clean a Platypus”
Provide common sense...
A Wanna Be
Received through the wonderful medium of email
Hi, I am to some degree (almost PhD in fact) a pedant, and I also happen to know that members of your consultancy also take pleasure in being pedantic. As such, I would like to know whether it would therefore be common sense to spell (and grammar) check comments and questions before posting them on your lovely site? I ask this because almost all of your posts so far have some kind of error, which really upsets the likes of me. Sorry about that. Alternatively, perhaps you could have a “spot the mistake” competition and a prize for the most number of errors spotted each week (or post?). I am reasonably confident I would win. Thank-you, Should-be (would-be?) Consultant F
3 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “A Wanna Be”
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Consultant G Says:
September 13th, 2006 at 9:37 amMany of the errors can be attributed to rushing our postings because we do them during work time. As for yourself, it is good that the UK education establishment is turning out such pedantic doctorial students. Your supervisor must love you, as there will be no grammatical errors, or spelling errors in your work. Keep up the good work, and remember that while pedants may have suffered at the hands of teachers in their youth, our time in nigh.
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September 13th, 2006 at 8:15 pmor even is nigh
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September 17th, 2006 at 7:19 pmLet us not forget the capital O in or. I believe that a full stop is also customary when one has finished a sentence.
Provide common sense...
A hot topic
A query on outdoor cooking
Following the lovely weather the UK has been having of late, I am thinking of having a barbecue this weekend. I would like some common sense advice about planning the event. For example, since it might rain, should I build the bbq inside my wooden garage, or should I get one wheels that I could wheel inside if it starts to rain? Further, what food will I need? I have a number of vegetarian friends, so I may try and bbq some eggs.
6 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “A hot topic”
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September 12th, 2006 at 3:58 pmBarbecues in the UK tend to be severely restricted by the UK weather so the first thing you should do is ensure that your friends come fully equipped (umbrellas and warm clothes) for all eventualities. Next you need to decide whether you are going to have a bbq no matter what the weather throws at you. If so, consider how you can cover the coals should the rain come down. We would not recommend taking it into a shed nor indoors but instead think about an umberalla or a polysheet (ensuring ofcourse that there is sufficient space to allow the heat to disappate). The big bbq killer is wind and this can be controlled through the purchase of a good bbq with high sides or picking a very sheltered location. Should the weather be too bad, you may want to consider the option of moving the whole event inside and not having a bbq but instead a gathering. Barbecuing eggs is possible but requires either a pot of boiling water or a frying pan. We would recommend more exciting things for the bbq such as aubergine and courgette both of which grill nicely. Have a nice bbq and we look forward to an invite.
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September 12th, 2006 at 4:26 pmPS. I have never been critical of other folks english and therefore pose this as a question not an insult but surely the title should be An Hot Topic as opposed to A Hot Topic. As with french, english sees an “H” as a vowel when it comes to An or A. Or am I being too old fashioned?
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September 12th, 2006 at 4:28 pmHmm, well I’m not sure whether it is common sense to be trying to plan a BBQ in the UK in the middle of September, but on a more pressing point, I was quite disturbed to see adverts for colonic irrigation at the top of the CSC home page - does this mean that that would be required after attending such a BBQ event? Now I am not so insulted at the lack of invite
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September 12th, 2006 at 5:11 pmVeggie Fiend, I would like to point out that you are not the only one not to have been invited to this BBQ.
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September 12th, 2006 at 5:41 pmHmm, interesting that you should bring up English (with two grammatical errors) - perhaps the CSC should also check the e-mail I have just sent pertaining to such issues. Also I think the use of ‘a’ vs ‘an’ depends on the word, and therefore is incorrect on this occasion (do you really think “An hot topic” sounds right?!).
See these websites for further info…
http://www.theslot.com/a-an.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html -
September 13th, 2006 at 10:11 amInteresting, someone suggests they have a barbecue in a wooden building, and all comments pertain to spelling and grammar (all of which looks correct to me).
Provide common sense...
Site Update
It has been a couple of months since we moved the site and since then our traffic has increased nicely. This is mainly due to the fact that search engines now find us, and the fact that we are answering the questions that people want to know answers to. Consultant C was well ahead of the times with his comments on Junk mail while Consultant K was able to help a mariner after the sites first emailed in question. We were over joyed that after our posting on Iran we got lots of people visiting from the middle east.
We would love more questions from you the general public (info@commonsenseconsultancy.co.uk) but for now we are content that we are able to help so many people from around the world (this diagram is just the last 100 visits)
3 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “Site Update”
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September 8th, 2006 at 1:05 pmExcellent stuff. Common sense suggests that dealing with popular topics will increase our hit rate.
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September 9th, 2006 at 11:17 pmI concur, popular topics may indeed increase our hit rate. However, approaching the matter from the point of view of those browsers who seek pure visual stimulation, I’m certain that our popularity will rise even further once I have silhouette.
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September 12th, 2006 at 4:17 pmas stated on the internal company email system, should consultant M wish a silhouette, they should create one themselves and submit the design to head office for uploading.
Provide common sense...
Lazy gits
A random person asks
Britain is a nation of lazy fat people. What can we do about it. Do we start to tax unhealthy food in the same way we tax alcohol and cigarettes or do we try to change people’s life styles? Or do we just accept it?
2 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “Lazy gits”
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September 8th, 2006 at 1:02 pmThe most basic common sense advice that can be given in is simply eat less and excercise more. This is fundemental.
Beyond that, how can anyone dictate how people should spend their lifes ? If people want to be fat and lazy, then common sense says there is no way to change it. However, common sense and hard science come together to suggests that, quite simply, being fat and lazy is unhealthy, and you will suffer more, enjoy life less and die sooner than healthier individuals. It is therefore clear that these individuals know perfectly well the trouble they are in (ignorance is not an excuse when the answer is obvious), and incentivising a healthier lifestyle will not help this. After all, smoking kills you, but there are a load of folk who are happy to both a/ smoke and kill themselves and b/ pay loads of tax in the process of obtaining this goal. Similarily alcohol abuse kills and increased tax does not appear to be having any effect on consuption. Further evidence that taxing products does not deter individuals comes from petrol, with consuption increasing despite the price (although it has not increased of late). Therefore, common sense suggests incentives will not work.
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September 22nd, 2006 at 4:37 pmeating pies never killed anyone - look at elvis!
September 19th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
There are a number of issues in this posting. First, and at the risk of being a pedant, your sentence construction and grammar are awful. You should have a word with our freelancing grammar consultant (see A Wanna Be). I am sure you know where to find this individual. Second, I would take issue with your assertion that the water bottle has had its day. The water bottle still has advantages: it does not have a hose that goes mouldy; it is made of tougher material (Nalgene and Sigg bottles) than bladder systems which do crack; the water in water bottles does not freeze (if bottle is stowed correctly, unlike the hose of a bladder system in the cold; water bottles (Nalgen and Sigg) can be filled with very hot water; it is more hygienic to share a water bottle than sucking on someone else’s hose; you cannot monitor how much water is in your bladder system, and you may run out mid walk.
Now, back to the main issue of the mouldy hose. I suggest you try soaking your hose in a solution containing sterilising tablets, such as those used to clean baby bottles, or a weak solution of Milton. This should solve your problem.
September 21st, 2006 at 3:53 pm
also consider the use of denture cleaning tablets. These fizz away nicely and do not leave any nasty tastes.
Also you should consider how you are using/drying your platypus. Water should not be stored in these for long periods and when not in use they should be emptied and hung up to try with the teat off.
Finally I agree with con G that the bottle has not had its day.
September 21st, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Actually I had tried fizzing denture cleaning tablets. These helped but didn’t remove all the algae. They also left a distinctly minty flavour to my water for some weeks afterwards. This was not altogether unpleasant, but it didn’t go well with my lunchtime oranges.